Physics Challenge!!!

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
How is an egg in a can of sand touching the ground?

This is a common excercise in schools, but I've never come across one where the egg itself absolutely had to touch the ground - that's almost impossible considering the smallest obstruction on the ground would cause a puncture in the egg from the lightest of accelerations. His quote:

Last year students already tried throwing the egg inside jelly, into a bucket with water, with a parachute and lots of ways.

I think he means the device of which the egg is placed in must touch the ground, i.e. throwing the device into a bucket of something wouldn't work.

BUT - if the contest really had that kind of bizzare stipulation, here's a few ideas:

1. Create a large framework out of cardboard rolls. Position a curved hose from a top corner to an opposite bottom corner. Create a holder for the egg that doesn't release the egg until a trigger on the bottom of the frame is pushed. What will happen is that as soon as the acceleration of the device is stopped (hits the ground), the inertia of the egg is allowed to continue, but then is angled by the path of the hose to roll along the horizontal plane and the egg will shoot out the hose hopefully not hitting anything in it's way.

2. Or, create a large parachute with a small basket that holds the egg, but exposed the bottom edge of the shell, and when the parachute is released it will float down at a slower acceleration - but to keep the egg from getting crushed, 3 hydraulic legs are angled out from the top of the basket so when it impacts the ground they absorb the shock, and the slight weight of the egg/basket will push the hydraulics outward until the egg gently rests on the ground (you could put the legs on wheels so they roll).

 

[vtqanh]

get a big foam pillow?

 

[Moonbeam]

Sega, I gave a number of easy solutions earlier. I rather liked the idea of a verticle pipe filled with water and a weight to sink the egg.

 

[LunarRay]

Originally posted by: Noedar
Hi, im in my last year of highschool and my final exam of physics is a very creative challenge. I have to throw an egg form the third floor of the school and it has to touch the ground without breaking. Last year students already tried throwing the egg inside jelly, into a bucket with water, with a parachute and lots of ways. I have made lots of ideas, but in all of them the egg broke or it didnt touch the ground. So when i was searching in the internet for a clever idea for my task , i thought, maybe i could ask all the clever guys from the forums for some ideas that could help! ANY help would be really appreciated!

If you are not permitted to let the egg sit immersed in vinegar for a week.... or boiled... then the easiest way is to throw the chicken... which contains the egg like all the above..
in any case... and assuming the school has three stories... an egg pertrified will not break...

 

[her209]

Put it on a RC helicopter and fly it down.

Or build a collapsable ramp and roll it down.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Sega, I gave a number of easy solutions earlier. I rather liked the idea of a verticle pipe filled with water and a weight to sink the egg.

Eggs sink on their own. And as easy as your solutions are, none of them are practical, although the one about dying and laying down the egg with his last triumpant breath is a winner.

 

[Glitchny]

Originally posted by: pyonir
shouldn't the thread title be: "Do my homework for me!"

there is one in every group... bring out the flashlights... im ready

 

[dighn]

tractor beam

seriously though try a pipe that's only slightly larger than the egg, that way the egg would be slowed down by the small crack for the air to escape

or use a metallic pipe and somehow attach the egg to a really strong magnet, it will be really slowed down


parachute might work

 

[jst0ney]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
drill a hole in it and pour lots and lots of epoxy in there (after you emtpy some of the glue out). Then whip that sucker at the ground as hard as you can.

Nice

 

[Savarak]

i've always wanted to do this in a class... heh, I'm free for half this summer, maybe I should try something like this for fun.... nah... too lazy

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

can you throw the egg from one hand to the other, then run down stairs and place it gently on the ground?


If it has to go throu a freefall situation, then whatever you do, make sure the egg lands pointed end down.

 

[QueHuong]

Do you have to hit a target? I didn't realize my egg drop had a target so I just packed the egg in with a bunch of plastic bags in a box and it was fine. However, the box bounced and missed the bull's eye. I would probably put spikes through the box so when it drops, it would stick into the ground. Of course this won't work if you're dropping it on concrete.

 

[pennylane]

I used rice (uncooked). Possibly styrofoam. but a bag of rice in a cup worked well for almost 10 m high (on top of the gym).

When I did it accuracy was needed too.... so parachutes were out of the question in case there was a wind. If accuracy doesn't matter then a parachute would help too.

 

[her209]

Put it inside a balloon filled with oil or salt water.

 

[hevnsnt]

did you ever see that McGuyver where they had to figure out how to open the dorm room doors?

 

[glugglug]

Put it inside a balloon with a cup of powdered sodium - NOT SALT. This balloon should be inside of another balloon.

Fill the outer balloon with water.

If the egg breaks noone will notice as the fire and explosion will consume it.

 

[hevnsnt]

actually you may have something there...

A balloon filled with baking soda and an outer balloon with a little bit of vinegar.. Then find a way to make them combine and pop balloons.... Egg on the floor

 

[DanFungus]

Originally posted by: glugglug
Put it inside a balloon with a cup of powdered sodium - NOT SALT. This balloon should be inside of another balloon.

Fill the outer balloon with water.

If the egg breaks noone will notice as the fire and explosion will consume it.

HAHAAHHaHA

!!!!!! WINNER! WINNER!

 

[Garion]

I didn't ever try it, but the helicopter idea sounds pretty good. After all, if you can safely land a whole helicopter if the engine fails over ~150 feet, an egg shouldn't be too hard. Just have to make sure it's high ENOUGH for the rotors to start spinning fast enough to slow the egg down. If you can throw, you can add some spin, otherwise you'll have to test very carefully.

One other possibility - Is there a time limit? If you need to use a balloon and break it at a certain point, there's always ways to make a bunch of extra gas and pop it with Baking Soda and Vinegar. Could put a bunch of time release capsules filled with baking soda in there, close it up, and drop it. Eventually, they will open up, interact with liquid vinegar, fill up the balloon with gas (spreading it out larger, making the liquid settle to the bottom along with your egg and pop. Would touching the ground on top of an exploded balloon count?

Edit: Geeze, looks like someone else had the same idea I did!

- G

 

[Alphazero]

Surprised noone's mentioned this yet:

Soak the egg in vinegar for a few hours. This causes the shell to become somewhat elastic, and the egg will simply bounce when dropped. I don't know if it will hold from that height, but it could be worth a shot.

 

[screw3d]

I am thinking about using the same parachute idea, but make the container of the egg somehow angled so that when it hits the ground, the slight impact of the egg in the container would cause the ramp that reaches the floor to drop down, and the egg would roll out nicely?